Shocking Food Facts You Don’t Know…Yet

(BlackDoctor.org) — Go to the grocery store. Pick up a package of food. Can. Jar. Box. Any package. Look at the ingredients. Chances are, you won’t know what half the things listed even are. But even worse is that many grocery stores aren’t disclosing certain food facts that may help keep you and your family healthier…and safer.

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With meat, supermarkets must tell you the country of origin, but produce laws aren’t as strict, and grocery stores aren’t obligated to tell you where your fruits and veggies come from. For example, in a recent E. coli outbreak, German bean sprouts were found to be the source of the bacteria. Many people, including Americans, got very sick, but were clueless as to where those sprouts originated from.

Fruits and veggies aren’t as nutritious as they used to be…

According to the USDA, the fruits and vegetables we eat today may contain significantly fewer nutrients than those our grandparents ate. Researchers looked at 43 produce items and discovered drops in protein (6 percent), calcium (16 percent), iron (15 percent), riboflavin (38 percent), and vitamin C (20 percent). So, what can you do? Eat more fruits and veggies!

Speaking of fruit, they might be really dirty, too…

To help protect the fruit from damage, fruits like peaches are soaked in up to 9 different chemicals in the weeks before being shipped off to the supermarket. This is why experts rate peaches, apples, celery, strawberries and spinach as the country’s dirtiest fruits and vegetables. As a rule of thumb, wash fruits and vegetables with mild soap and water before you eat them.

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Researchers at Tufts University recently analyzed 269 food items from 42 national sit-down and fast-food restaurant chains, and they found that nearly 20 percent of samples contained 100 or more calories than reported by the restaurants. What does this mean? If you ate an extra 100 calories at every meal, chances are you’d gain more than 30 pounds in a just one year.

You might be eating trans fats right now…

FDA regulations allow food processors to claim zero trans fats – even if the food actually contains 0.49 grams per serving. Translation: that bag of Cheetos? It may contain 5 grams of trans fat — even though the label on front says it contains zero grams of it. How can you tell? Look on the ingredients label – partially hydrogenated oil is the primary source of trans fat.

Right along with people, today’s chickens are fatter, too…

According to recent studies, chickens contain 266 percent more fat than they did 40 years ago. Today’s chicken also has 33 percent less protein, according to a study from the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at London Metropolitan University. The problem is modern farming practices. Cramped environments and unnatural diets produce birds that have the same weight problems as the humans who eat them.

Milk hormones may cause cancer…

In 1970, a typical dairy cow could produce about 10,000 pounds of milk per year. Today, that same cow produces roughly 20,000 pounds. Did cows suddenly acquire superpowers. Not so much. Instead, today’s cows are routinely fed a hormone called recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST. Studies have linked rBST to a multitude of cancers, including those of the prostate, breast, and colon. Milk from rBST-treated cows is in almost every American supermarkets. Thankfully, stores like Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, and Kroger now carry only rBST-free dairy products.

It costs more to eat healthy…

University of Washington researchers recently calculated the cost differences between healthy food and junk foods. They found that 2,000 calories of junk food cost about $3.52 a day, while 2,000 calories of nutritious grub can cost $36. Not only that, but out of every dollar you spend on food, it only cost 19 cents to actually produce the food. The other 81 cents goes toward marketing, manufacturing and packaging.